Jubilee of Consacrated Life in Arua, Uganda
By Sr. Magdalena Orczykowska, Ukusijoni community, Uganda On 2 February, the Diocese of Arua was filled with joy as we celebrated the Jubilee of Consecrated Life. The celebration took place in the context of the Jubilee Year we are celebrating in the whole Church throughout the world under the theme “Pilgrims of Hope”. This special occasion brought together many religious from different congregations, as well as the lay faithful who pray in the Cathedral parish, underlining the living tapestry of faith that enriches our Diocese. The main celebration was preceded by a day of reflection led by the Episcopal Vicar for Religious in the Diocese of Arua. He led us in a reflection on the meaning of the Jubilee and this year’s theme, its impact on our lives and the importance of reconciliation. The highlight of the gathering was the Mass presided over by our Bishop, who…
Meeting of the Lavigerie family in Kenya
Meeting of the Lavigerie Family: Missionaries of Africa (M.Afr), Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA) and Missionary Lay Associates (LMA). From Sr. Julienne Bouda, Ukusijoni, Uganda On 7th – 8th of February 2025, a meeting of the Lavigerie Family was held in Nairobi at Saint Charles Lwanga House. It was organized by the Entity leaders of both the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA) and the Missionaries of Africa (M.Afr). This meeting was a family gathering to see how to live practically the Charter of the Lavigerie Family proposed to us by our two General Councils. Its aim was to unify the different groups of the Lavigerie Family: Lay men and women, MSOLA and M.Afr of Eastern and Central Africa, that is Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in view of the betterment of the Mission in Africa and for the Africans. We were reminded…
The mission of being a student
From our Sister Eliane NZOYISABA, Bunamwaya, Uganda “Be all things to all people.” Inspired by this aspect of our spirituality, I want to share my experience of living the mission through studies and how it influenced the relationships with my classmates. Since February 2024, I am working toward a Certificate in Fashion Design at the Uganda Catholic Management and Training Institute in Rubaga, Uganda. Our class initially comprised twelve students, but unfortunately, two had to leave due to financial constraints. My classmates are young, unmarried girls, while other classes include a mix of boys, men, young women, and married ladies. The institute also welcomes religious sisters, easily recognized by their distinctive uniforms. As MSOLA, I live the “all to all” in my way of being and collaboration with the others in our studies. Our Constitutions (n.13) remind us that: “Wherever we are, our mission is ONE. Because we…
Make the God of Love visible
Sr Hildegard Krümpelmann, Sr Elisabeth Herkommer, Sr Hildegard Essman and Sr Bertha Maas On the occasion of the Jubilee of the Families on 30th May 2025, we want to celebrate our family with an article from our sisters in Germany, in the community at the Trier Seniorenzentrum “Do as God does – become human” “Do as God does – become human.” These words by Bishop Klaus Hemmerle (+1994) are an inspiration for us every day. They call us to follow the example of God, who became a human being in Jesus Christ to show us his love. This message shapes our lives as elderly sisters in the senior center and gives us strength and orientation. Our community in the light of the mission As a community of elderly sisters, we are living in a phase of our mission where our physical strength may be waning, but…
Learning a people’s language and culture
Sr. Alice Yirabo Koné, at the right, with other students of the Arabic language From Sr Alice Yirabo Koné, Hydra, Algeria “Through obedience, all work, all functions, all life are inserted into the field of the apostolate and, whatever one does and wherever one is, one is sent.” I was enlightened by this assertion of Maurice Zundel throughout my first mission in Tunisia. Indeed, after my novitiate and my first profession in Bobo-Dioulasso, I was sent to the community of La Marsa in Tunisia, to learn the Arabic language and culture. As soon as I arrived, I was welcomed, initiated and integrated into the community by my sisters. Sisters Maria and Mélika in particular helped me take my first steps in learning the language through the courses they gave me. It was after this experience that I joined the Bourguiba School of Modern Languages to begin classes. …
50 years of MSOLA presence in Mauritania!
A photo from 2018, with the community celebrating the 150th Jubilee, with a poster of all the sisters who were in Mauritania Our first sisters arrived in Mauritania in November 1975. They forged good relationships with the Mauritanians. They visited, cared for, fed, taught, and supported them in self-care. Thus, on January 31, 2025, we invited the Mauritanians who collaborated with our first sisters to gather their testimonies. Many emphasized their “attitude of reaching out…”, of speaking their language, as well as their contribution to improving the living conditions of the people. They challenged themselves to follow in our sisters’ footsteps by doing good to one another and developing themselves further. It was emphasized that previously, our sisters gave them things, but today we speak more of mutual collaboration. Mauritanians are no longer here to receive. We find ourselves in a place of sharing experiences, pooling our…
Closing of the Jubilee of 125 years of Evangelisation in Burkina Faso
A report from our communities in Burkina Faso The festivities started in 2023 found us finally on February 16, 2025, at the Shrine of Notre Dame de Yagma. The Eucharistic celebration was presided by Pope Francis’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The theme was “The Church, Family of God in Burkina Faso: 125 Years of Evangelization, Assessment of Pastoral Options, and Prospects for a New Beginning.” The faithful came from all over the country, as well as delegations from other countries. Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers, created cardinal a few months ago, came with a 13-member delegation. A Missionary of Africa, Father Guy Sawadogo, a young M. Afr in training, a sister of the Immaculate Conception from Ouagadougou, and another sister of the Annunciation from Bobo-Dioulasso were part of the convoy. “A great field to harvest, a vineyard to gather, God now calls for his harvest! A…
We are initiators
By Sr. Georgette Ouedraogo, Lilongwe community, Malawi Our founder Cardinal Charles Lavigerie and Mother Marie Salome as well as our sisters who preceded us in the mission, taught us to be initiators. Our history reveals how we have been initiators in the mission. So many schools, hospitals, parishes and centres have been initiated and passed on to others. Even though we are not initiating many institutions nowadays, let us not lose the focus, we still are initiators in various ways. When thinking about environmental care, we are called to reinforce our role as initiator. Have we ever witnessed rubbish (water bottles, takeaway containers, tissues, cobs of roasted maize, banana peels) flying out of posh cars, buses on the highway? Are these people not educated? Some of them are very highly educated, but they have not been initiated. No one has ever supported them with the awareness of disposing…
The treasure of love shared
The editorial team of St Elisabeth community in Trier. Left to right: Sisters Maria Weis, Hildegard Nagel, Theresia Waldorf, Roswitha Hoen, Margret Tovar et Anna Karl. In a world characterized by fast-paced life and uncertainty, we continue to live our mission – not just as a task, but as a lifelong call to spread God’s love and hope and to be close to people. In old-age our mission is shaped by the knowledge and experience we have gained over the years. It is not always the great deeds that are in the foreground, but rather the quiet, discreet actions of everyday life that make up the true depth of our vocation. We help to enrich life in the community by being mindful of creation – whether by picking up litter or treating natural resources with respect – and small daily tasks such as shopping, making coffee or simply listening…
Blessed Martyrs of Algeria
We remember the blessed martyrs of Algeria, in particular our brothers Jean Chevillard, Alain Dieulangard, Charles Deckers and Christian Chessel. On 8th May 2020 Bishop +Claude Rault. M.Afr. gave a homily to the the Missionary of Africa in Paris, France. It so happens that, through the mystery of history, I have come to know almost all the members of the Church of Algeria whose memory we celebrate today. Some I have known more, others less. On several occasions I was able to work with Bishop Pierre in the Episcopal Conference, and he came several times to the Diocese of the Sahara when I was Vicar General. He was a passionate and exciting man. His regular letters during the “black decade” soon made him a potential target for armed Islamists and security forces. He knew the risks he was taking. I was also quite close to Christian Chessel,…